Seven Must-See Sets on Bonnaroo’s Newly Released Schedule

A day after announcing who would be playing late nights on The Which Stage and in This, That and The Other Tents, the festival has announced the schedule for the 12th Annual round-the-clock music, comedy and arts festival in Manchester, TN. As with any of these mega fests, fans will face a few tough choices between acts overlapping and can now start curating their own experience by filling out the grid on the festival’s website. Click the direct links to each day (e.g. “THURSDAY, JUNE 13th“) below to scope the full schedule of acts playing each day and be sure to see our seven can’t miss sets at Bonnaroo 2013.

FUTUREBIRDS – This Tent | 5:30 pm

Don’t miss FUTUREBIRDS from 5:30-6:30 pm in This Tent, hot off the release of their critically-acclaimed 2nd LP Baba Yaga. FUTUREBIRDS previously played Bonnaroo in 2011. After four plus years of heavy touring, this Athens, GA outfit is as comfortable on a major summer festival stage as your Uncle Larry leading the agenda at the monthly Rotary Club meeting. Check out the clip below for a solid representation of the kind of energy they’ll be wielding to ensure that your Roo experience gets kicked off in proper fashion.

DJANGO DJANGO – That Tent | 9:00 pm

Django Django will be making their Roo Debut on Thursday night, joining a long line of bands holding down a similar spot with a huge opportunity to play to a large Stateside crowd made up mostly of fans seeing them live for the first time.

BOMBINO – That Tent | 1:30 pm

For first-timers at the Fest, Bombino will be an excellent introduction to the sweltering heat in June in Middle Tennessee and perhaps the first chance to have your mind completely altered by a style of guitar-playing you’ve likely never seen before. His new record Nomad was produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and will definitely end very high on a lot of Best of 2013 lists. The Black Keys played a small tent Friday afternoon set in 2003 and were headlining the festival by 2011. You never know what can happen, the sky is the limit for Bombino.

This one will almost definitely go down in Roo history amongst some of the best Superjams to ever go down on the farm. What a lineup. No telling what could happen.

BUSTLE IN YOUR HEDGEROW – This Tent | 2:30 am

Based out of Brooklyn, NY, Bustle In Your Hedgerow is Marco Benevento (keyboards, organ), Joe Russo (drums), Dave Dreiwitz (bass) and Scott Metzger (guitar) taking on the catalog of Led Zeppelin. Make sure you get a good spot.

JOHN FULLBRIGHT – That Tent | 1:30 pm

I just got the chance to see 23-year old Oklahoman songwriter/multi-instrumentalist John Fullbright for the first time at an intimate show in Los Angeles. Lucinda Williams was in the audience and in a chance encounter with the living legend she affirmed that this youngun is one of the best young acts she’s seen in many years. When Lucinda voices an opinion on such a topic, probably best to heed the advice.

BARONESS – This Tent | 3:15 pm

– The fact that the members of Baroness are still alive (after a harrowing bus crash last summer while on tour) is an absolute miracle.
– The fact that Baroness is already back on their feet and playing festivals like Bonnaroo this summer is one of the more intriguing you-couldn’t-write-this-for-Hollywood-if-tried narratives I’ve ever heard in live music.

Get ready for these guys, they’ll provide the kick in the teeth you need on Bonnaroo Sunday to keep powering through until the final notes have been played later on in the night.